United States Department of the Interior
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 2280 National Register of Historic Places 1201 "I" (Eye) Street, NW Washington D.C. 20005
The Director of the National Park Service is pleased to announce actions on the following properties for the National Register of Historic Places. For further information contact Edson Beall at (202) 354-2255 or E-mail: [email protected] Visit our web site at http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr
WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 4/28/08 THROUGH 5/02/08
KEY: State, County, Property Name, Address/Boundary, City, Vicinity, Reference Number, NHL, Action, Date, Multiple Name
COLORADO, CHAFFEE COUNTY Bode--Stewart House, 803 F St., Salida, 08000344, LISTED, 4/29/08
COLORADO, PARK COUNTY Trout Creek--Annex--Settele Ranch, 3242 Co.Rd. 7, Fairplay vicinity, 08000345, LISTED, 4/29/08 (Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STATE EQUIVALENT Garden Club of America Entrance Markers at Chevy Chase Circle, Reservation 335A, Washington, 08000346, LISTED, 4/29/08 (Garden Club of America Entrance Markers in Washington, D.C. MPS)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STATE EQUIVALENT Garden Club of America Entrance Marker at Georgia Avenue, Georgia Ave. at Kalmia Rd. & Alaska Ave., Washington, 08000347, LISTED, 4/29/08 (Garden Club of America Entrance Markers in Washington, D.C. MPS)
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STATE EQUIVALENT Garden Club of America Entrance Markers at Westmoreland Circle, Reservation 559, Washington, 08000348, LISTED, 4/29/08 (Garden Club of America Entrance Markers in Washington, D.C. MPS)
GEORGIA, BARROW COUNTY Carlyle--Blakey Farm, 568 GA 211 NW., Winder vicinity, 08000353, LISTED, 4/29/08
GEORGIA, CHATHAM COUNTY Mulherin--Righton Raised Tybee Cottage, 14 8th Pl., Tybee Island, 08000349, LISTED, 4/29/08
GEORGIA, FULTON COUNTY Glenn Building, 110 Marietta St., Atlanta, 08000350, LISTED, 4/29/08
GEORGIA, PICKENS COUNTY Pickens County Courthouse, 50 N. Main St., Jasper, 08000352, LISTED, 4/29/08 NPS Form 10 900 OMB No. 10024 0018 (Oct. 1990)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x' in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10 900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property historic name Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch other name/site number Burrows Spur; 5PA3253
2. Location street & number 3242 Park County Road 7 N/A not for publication city or town Fairplay vicinity state Colorado code CO county Park code 093 zip code 80440
3. State/Federal Agency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant nationally statewide locally. ( See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of certifying official/Title Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Date
Colorado Historical Society, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. ( See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature of certifying official/Title Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that the property is: Signature of the Keeper Date of Action
entered in the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined eligible for the National Register See continuation sheet. determined not eligible for the National Register. removed from the National Register. other, (explain:)
Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch Park County, Colorado Name of Property County and State
5. Classification Ownership of Property Category of Property Number of Resources within Property (check as many boxes as apply) (check only one box) (Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
public local district Contributing Noncontributing private building(s) 10 2 buildings public State site 1 0 sites public Federal structure 6 6 structures object 0 0 objects 17 8 Total
Name of related multiple property listing Number of contributing resources previously listed (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) in the National Register
“Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado” N/A
6. Function or Use Historic Function Current Function (Enter categories from instructions) (Enter categories from instructions)
DOMESTIC/single dwelling DOMESTIC/single dwelling DOMESTIC/secondary structure AGRICULTURE/animal facility AGRICULTURE/animal facility AGRICULTURE/agricultural outbuilding AGRICULTURE/agricultural outbuilding AGRICULTURE/irrigation facility EXTRACTION/extractive facility TRANSPORTATION/rail related
7. Description Architectural Classification Materials (Enter categories from instructions) (Enter categories from instructions)
No Style foundation CONCRETE walls WOOD WOOD/log roof METAL COMPOSITION other Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch Park County, Colorado Name of Property County and State
8. Significance Applicable National Register Criteria Areas of Significance (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property (enter categories from instructions) for National Register listing.)
A Property is associated with events that have made ARCHITECTURE a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. AGRICULTURE
B Property is associated with the lives of persons INDUSTRY significant in our past.
C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics Period of Significance of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses 1872 1960 high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.
D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, Significant Date information important in prehistory or history. 1904
Criteria Considerations 1920 (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.) 1934 Property is: A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes. Significant Persons B removed from its original location. (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A C a birthplace or grave. Cultural Affiliation D a cemetery. N/A
E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
F a commemorative property. Architect/Builder Unknown G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) Narrative Statement of Significance
9. Major Bibliographical References Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.
Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data:
preliminary determination of individual listing (36 State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested Other State agency previously listed in the National Register Federal agency previously determined eligible by the National Local government Register University designated a National Historic Landmark Other Name of repository: recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey # Park County Local History Archive, Fairplay recorded by Historic American Engineering Record #
Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch Park County, Colorado Name of Property County and State
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property 2,112 acres
UTM References (Place additional boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
1. 1/3 4/1/8/4/0/8 4/3/3/8/2/2/8 2. 1/3 4/2/1/7/1/5 4/3/3/8/2/2/6 Zone Easting Northing (NAD 27) Zone Easting Northing
3. 1/3 4/2/2/5/0/1 4/3/3/3/5/0/5 4. 1/3 4/2/1/4/7/0 4/3/3/1/3/6/8 Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing See continuation sheet Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.) The UTMs were derived by OAHP from heads up digitization on Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) maps provided to the Colorado Historical Society Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and were provided to the Boundary Justification preparers of this nomination by OAHP. (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)
11. Form Prepared By name/title R. Laurie Simmons and Thomas H. Simmons, historians (prepared for the owner) organization Front Range Research Associates, Inc. date 7 December 2007 (revised) street & number 3635 West 46 th Avenue telephone 303 477 7597 city or town Denver state CO zip code 80211 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs: Representative black and white photographs of the property. Additional items: (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner name/title Charles and Margo Harding street & number 26 Walnut Hill telephone city or town Norman state OK zip code 73072
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013 7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Projects (1024 0018), Washington, DC 20503.
OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 1 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Narrative Description
Introduction
The Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch is a significant historic agricultural property that meets the registration requirements specified in the Multiple Property Documentation Form “Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado.” Fourteen of the resources within the district are associated with the historic context “The History of Ranching in South Park, Colorado, 1859 1950.” The property type represented is “Ranches and Ranching Facilities,” and all but one of the individual historic resources are examples of the subtypes enumerated under that property type. Resources within the district include the 2,112 acre site, twelve structures, and twelve buildings. Of the twenty five resources in the district, seventeen (68 percent) are contributing and eight (32 percent) are noncontributing. One of the contributing resources is individually significant. The sketch maps (pages 39 and 40) accompanying this form identify the location of buildings and structures of the ranch. The registration requirements listed in the related Multiple Property Documentation Form were utilized to determine the contributing status of each resource. Among the criteria employed for evaluating the resources were: date of construction, historical associations, and integrity of design, setting, materials, and workmanship. The historic resources of the Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch represent the development of ranching in South Park during the period 1872 to 1960.
Overview and Setting
The Annex Ranch is located in the west central part of South Park in Park County, Colorado, about six miles southeast of the county seat of Fairplay. The headquarters of the ranch is situated at 9,246’ in an isolated high mountain valley lying between Red Hill (about 9,900’) on the west and Reinecker Ridge (about 10,100’) on the east (Photograph 1). The ranch extends approximately 4.1 miles along the valley floor and ranges from approximately 1.5 miles to 0.7 miles wide between the hills. Trout Creek, which made homesteading and agricultural pursuits possible in the area, flows along a north northwest to south southeast course through the property, and two historic irrigation ditches that supplied the ranch with water (the Sigafus and Trout Creek) are present (Photographs 2 and 3). Silver Heels (13,822’) and Little Baldy (12,142’) mountains loom in the distance north of the ranch, with the headwaters of Trout Creek found between them. The 1879 grade of the Denver, South Park & Pacific Railroad traverses the ranch east of its headquarters. The railroad originally had a siding known as “Burrows Spur” on the ranch. Near the north end of the ranch are the ruins of a 1904 oil derrick associated with early twentieth century efforts to extract petroleum from the shale beneath the grazing lands.
The nominated area includes all of the lands and buildings historically associated with the ranch that are encompassed within its boundaries today. The headquarters of the ranch is located in the west central portion of the site, and consists of twenty four one and two story frame and log dwellings, barns, sheds, corrals, and accessory buildings and structures associated with its agricultural operations. The headquarters area is laid out with the main house and additional dwellings, garages, and accessory buildings on the south and east and the animal and crop storage and care buildings to OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 2 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) the north and west (Photographs 4 and 5). The headquarters area reflects the evolution of the ranch over time, including buildings erected during the course of its historic operation, as well as a small number of later buildings and alterations. Dates of construction for the resources range from 1872 through the 1980s, with only eight, mostly small, buildings erected after 1960. Undeveloped grazing land stretches on all sides of the headquarters, preserving the historic viewsheds and the natural setting.
Description of Contributing Resources in the District
The following section describes the site, buildings, and structures within the district. In the discussion below, the resources are organized by property subtypes listed in the Multiple Property Documentation Form. The contributing resources are listed first, followed by noncontributing resources. The name of the resource is based on its function and/or the way it was referenced during the historic period. The resource number is keyed to the sketch map accompanying this nomination. Photographs are identified on the map of the district by a number enclosed in a circle. Precise dates of construction for many of the resources are not available and some are expressed as a range of years. Dates of construction were determined through interviews with Carole Settele Anderson (daughter of the 1934 1970 owner), Park County Assessor records, 1938 and 1956 Forest Service aerial photographs, the homestead case file of Harold J. Arthur, newspaper accounts, and examination of the buildings. 1
SUBTYPE : RANCH LANDSCAPE FEATURES
Ranch Site, Resource 1 (1872, Photographs 1-3 and 6-8). Settlement in the Trout Creek drainage began in the early 1860s, and homesteading activity on the site of the ranch dates to the early 1870s. The site encompasses significant historic cultural and landscape features, including several miles of the Trout Creek Valley and the headquarters resources of the ranch, and possesses unobstructed views of the natural features in the distance. Included on the site are an extensive system of ranch roads and fences, including snow fences constructed from ties removed from the Denver, South Park & Pacific tracks through the ranch, as well as fences that enclose particular areas and mark boundaries of the ranch and associated fields, pastures, and grazing lands. Trout Creek, whose waters made settlement and hay and livestock raising possible, meanders through the middle of the valley. There is a large corral system extending from the area east of the north end of the lambing barn south to the south loafing shed that includes a long alley at the east end and an alley extending from the east end toward the main barn. The corrals are composed of wood rails and posts and have metal pipe gates. The corral area includes loading chutes. A historic squeeze chute, capable of
1 Building dimensions are approximate and were produced from aerial photographs, Assessor’s data, or field observations. The following sources were used to produce construction dates: Park County Assessor, real property appraisal cards, Fairplay, Colorado; Carole Settele Anderson and Karl Anderson, Riverton, Wyoming, field visit to ranch, 9 November 2007; Carole Settele Anderson, “Information About the Settele Ranch,” 8 November 2007, on file at Front Range Research Associates, Inc., Denver (hereafter cited as Anderson, “Information”); Harold J. Arthur, final proof, testimony of claimant, homestead case file, serial number 030089, 21 August 1925; U.S. Soil Conservation Service, aerial photographs, BOV 03 22, 12 July 1938 and ECB 14 139, 18 September 1956, on file at U.S. Forest service, Lakewood, Colorado. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 3 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) restraining large bulls, stands west of the main ranchhouse. The site consists of 2,112 acres historically associated with the ranch and its agricultural operations.
Denver, South Park & Pacific Railway Grade, Resource 2 (1879, Photograph 6). The Denver, South Park & Pacific Railway constructed a narrow gauge line through the valley in 1879, connecting Como and Garo. The grade is still readily visible throughout the length of the ranch. The railroad obtained a right of way from Edward P. Arthur and other landowners in the area. A short siding was located at this site, known as Burrows Spur, and hay was shipped on the railroad into the Settele era. To dispose of excess cream from the few dairy cows on the ranch and to make extra money, Helen Settele would place a filled three gallon cream can on the siding to be picked up by the railroad and transported to a Denver creamery. Mail was delivered and posted via the railroad. After the railroad route was abandoned in 1937, the rails were removed the following year. Some of the ties were used to create wind and snow breaks around the headquarters of the ranch by James Settele, and others remain in piles in the valley.
Trout Creek Ditch, Resource 3 (1862, Photograph 7). Irrigation ditches played a very significant role in the operation of the ranch during its history. James Settele viewed the water in the ditches as equivalent to gold because it made the production of hay possible, which was used to raise the animals. Settele created branches from the main ditches wherever he felt necessary on the land, and followed the philosophy of using as little ditch as possible to carry as much water as possible. The Trout Creek Ditch diverted water from Trout Creek 0.9 miles north of the north boundary of the ranch. The ditch follows a north northwest to south southeast alignment along the eastern edge of the ranch (on the east side of Trout Creek). The shallow ditch extends for approximately 2.5 miles within the ranch, is unlined, and is about ten feet in width. The ditch was used throughout the historic period of ranching activities.
Sigafus Ditch, Resource 4 (1873-76, Photograph 8). The Sigafus Ditch diverted water from the Middle Fork of the South Platte River on the west side of Red Hill. Assuming the shape of a “U”, the route of the ditch extended southeasterly, then turned through a gap in Red Hill to flow northerly, and eventually dumped its waters into Trout Creek about 520 feet north of the northern boundary of the ranch. This permitted flood irrigation of lands within the ranch on the west side of Trout Creek. The ditch extends in a north northwest to south southeast alignment along the western edge of the ranch for approximately four miles. The shallow ditch is unlined and is about eight feet in width. Several deteriorated wood diversion gates are still extant.
SUBTYPE : ANIMAL CARE FACILITIES
Barn, Resource 5 (1920-25, Photographs 9 and 10). Harold J. Arthur constructed this barn during the 1920 25 period. The large barn was a key building at the ranch, providing a place to store hay, butcher animals, shelter and care for horses, house sheep during lambing before the sheep barn was built, and a variety of other activities. The barn is a rectangular (80’ X 32’) front gable roof building with a 16 foot wide shed roof wing along the east wall. The shed roof wing includes the front and back horse barns, where teams were stalled, fed, and harnessed. The foundation is log, and the roof OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 4 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) is covered with corrugated metal and has overhanging eaves with exposed rafters. The siding is composed of wide vertical boards covered with short log planks with bark left on. The outer log planks were added after 1970. The front (south) of the main wing has a large vehicle entrance at the west end with a metal overhead door (added after 1970). Centered on the wall above is a partially boarded up hay loft opening, and there are two pigeon holes with projecting boards near the top of the gable. The south wall of the shed roof wing has a vertical board sliding door attached to a metal track.
The east wall of the shed roof projection has two sliding metal frame windows toward the south, and toward the center is a large opening with hinged vertical board double doors. Further north is a boarded over inset entrance with log threshold. At the north end, the loafing shed is attached to the wall and projects to the east. The north wall has no door or window openings. At the northwest corner is an elevated fuel tank platform, and the tank is on the ground to the east. The west wall has central double hinged vertical board doors. There is a hinged pedestrian door with Z bracing near the south end, and a similar door with X bracing is near the north end (both added after 1970).
The interior of the main wing of the barn has no hay loft and displays its original mortise and tenon post and beam construction with Y bracing timbers. The roof has a slide track and pulley system at the apex of the gable. The interior is open, except for an area at the southwest corner that has been enclosed as a workshop/garage and office. There are dirt and concrete floors. The interior of the shed roof projection is divided into six stalls ranging from 6’ to 10’ wide and has board floors.
Loafing/Open Shed, Resource 6 (early 1940s, Photographs 10 and 11). Sharing the east wall of the barn is a loafing/open shed built by James Settele in the early 1940s. During lambing, panels were set up in the shed to provide pens for ewes and lambs, or jugs were put under the roof for them. During haying the shed was used for horse teams. The loafing/open shed measures 64’ X 16’, and it has a side gable roof with roll roofing. The north wall is composed of vertical boards and half logs, while the east and south walls are open. Three rows of upright whole logs (measuring up to 22’ in diameter) support the roof. The floor is dirt.
Lambing Barn/Lambing Shed, Resource 7 (1960, Photograph 12, designed by James Settele) . The Lambing Barn was used to provide shelter for ewes and lambs during and immediately after the birth process. The sheep were raised for both meat and wool and kept in two bands, each consisting of 1,100 animals. James Settele designed the barn with extensive windows on the south to gain solar heat and light. The large barn allowed the rancher to keep the sheep in sheltered conditions for a longer period of time than the smaller sheds, thereby increasing the success of the lambing process. The building was used as needed for other functions throughout the year.
The board and batten lambing barn is a very long, rectangular (130’ X 36’) building with a semi monitor roof, with the taller section of the roof having a continuous clerestory on the south that floods the center of the barn with light. The roof has corrugated metal roofing, overhanging eaves, and exposed rafters. There are sixteen triple four light windows on the clerestory. The south wall of the lower section of the building has fourteen triple windows, as well as two four light windows at the east OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 5 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) end. The west wall of the barn has a paneled pedestrian door on the lower part and a large paneled wood overhead garage door on the taller part. The east wall also has a pedestrian door and an overhead garage door.
The interior of the barn has an enclosed kitchen/preparation area at the southeast corner. A 14’ foot wide dirt floored alley runs through the center of the barn. Along the south side of the barn is a long animal chute, as well as Y braced wood posts, saddle racks, horseshoe and railroad spike hat racks, a seating area, and a curved corral at the west end. The north side also has wood posts, and is divided into fourteen stalls with metal gates. During the Settele era, the barn was divided into wood panel pens for the sheep.
Shearing Shed, Resource 8 (1920-25, Photograph 13). This building was at the headquarters when James Settele purchased the property in 1934; it appears to have been constructed by Harold J. Arthur in the 1920 25 period. The shearing shed is a long rectangular (88’ X 16’) building with a side gable roof with corrugated metal roofing and horizontal boards along the eaves, vertical board and half log walls on three sides, and an open south wall. Three rows of upright whole logs (varying in diameter from 8” to 12”) support the roof. The floor is dirt. The east end of the shed is enclosed and measures approximately 16’ X 16’. This section was used as a night shed where a person who watched the sheep during lambing stayed, checking on the animals every half hour during the night. The west end of the shearing shed had a wood floor and housed the wool cutting activities performed by traveling Hispanic American shearers from the San Luis Valley, who worked on the sheep and prepared the fleeces for the shipment. Wool from the Settele Ranch was considered very desirable and was sought after by wool buyers for mills in the East.
North Loafing/Open Shed, Resource 9 (mid- to late-1940s, Photograph 14). The north loafing/open shed is a long rectangular (80’ X 16’) building displaying similar construction techniques and materials to the other two sheds. James Settele built the shed in the 1940s after constructing the one attached to the barn. This shed was used during lambing to pen ewes and lambs in panel pens and in the fall for weaning calves. 2 It has a side gabled roof with roll roofing, vertical board and half log walls, upright whole log supports, and an open south wall.
SUBTYPE : RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
Main Ranchhouse, Resource 10 (1920 with 1955 addition, Photographs 4 and 15). The original portion of the ranch house was erected during the tenure of Harold J. Arthur, who homesteaded the land where it is located. Originally the house encompassed seven rooms. In 1955, the Setteles built an addition that doubled the size of the house and included a new living room, dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, and a bathroom. Helen and James Settele designed the addition with the assistance of “Red” Quinn of Green Mountain Falls, who erected it.
The ranchhouse is a two story frame building with a side gabled roof with wood shingles, a tall orange brick chimney, a shed roof wall dormer on the west, and a gabled roof dormer on the east. The walls
2 Anderson, “Information.” OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 6 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) are clad with lap board siding, and the foundation is poured concrete and concrete block. The front (west) has a shed roof porch that is enclosed at the north end. There is a lower, overlapping gabled bay on the south with an inset porch at the south end of its west wall. An arched roof greenhouse is attached to the south wall. A one story, enclosed, hipped roof projection on the east wall wraps around to the north wall. The house has a variety of windows, including fixed light, casement, and two part sliding windows. The main entrance on the west wall has double glazed doors with sidelights. The house, although altered from its 1920 appearance, is evaluated as contributing as it retains its character from the remodeling which occurred during the period of significance. Alterations completed after 1970 included the greenhouse addition on the south, creation of a porch and new entrance on the west, replacement of some original windows with sliding windows, addition of a picture window on the north wall, installation of two upstairs bathrooms, and modification of the east dormer.
Bunkhouse, Resource 11 (1920-25, Photograph 16). Harold J. Arthur built the bunkhouse in the 1920 25 period. The bunkhouse where hired workers stayed, including those who assisted with lambing and haying, is a one story rectangular frame building with a side gabled roof with overhanging eaves, wood shingle roofing, and a red brick chimney at the north end. The walls are clad with wide vertical boards (ranging from 1” X 6” to 1” X 14”), and the foundation is rock and timber. The front (east) has an off center entrance with a paneled wood door with a porcelain door knob and a wood threshold. The door faces a concrete pad embedded with railroad spikes forming the letters “MC,” for Manuel Casias, one of the sheepherders who came to the ranch to work each year. Tall, narrow, four over four light double hung sash windows flank the entrance, and there is a third window at the south end. The south wall has a similar window with most of the glazing broken out. There are no openings on the west and north. The interior of the building is divided into two rooms by a center wall. There is a wood plank floor with a wide baseboard, and the walls have wallboard siding with battens. The bunkhouse was originally furnished with bunk beds, and bedding was provided for the workers.
Cook’s House, Resource 12 (late 1940s, Photograph 17). During the Settele’s early years on the ranch, Helen Settele cooked all the meals for the family and hired hands on a wood stove. As the ranch prospered, a separate dwelling was built for a hired cook. Since about twenty men worked on the ranch during haying season, the cook provided a fundamental service. The residence of the ranch cook is a one story side gabled roof building (21’ X 32’) with a projecting gabled roof entrance bay (13’ X 6’) on the east wall. The house has asphalt composition roof shingles and overhanging eaves and a brick chimney. The walls have 6” horizontal tongue and groove siding with 1” X 4” corner boards, and the poured in place concrete foundation varies in height from 2” to 2’ to address the slope of the land. The entrance bay on the front (east) has a center door facing an elevated wood stoop. There are paired four light windows north and south of the entrance bay and a four light window on the south wall of the entrance. The south wall has a four light window at the top of the gable (with missing glazing) and two sets of paired four light sliding windows. The west wall has paired four light sliding windows toward the north end. There are no openings on the north wall. The interior includes an entrance vestibule, living room, kitchen, and bedroom/storage area, with finishings that appear to date to the 1960s. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 7 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
SUBTYPE : RANCH SUPPORT FACILITIES
Blacksmith Shop, Resource 13 (1920s, Photograph 18). The blacksmith shop was a vital facility where horses were shod and many items used on the ranch were fabricated or repaired. The blacksmith shop is a one story rectangular (24’ 6” X 16’ 7”) building with walls clad with wide vertical boards (ranging from 1” X 6” to 1” X 14” wide) and a timber on stone foundation. The side gabled roof has overhanging eaves and wood shingle roofing, much of which has blown off and exposed the underlying decking. The east wall has a slightly off center entrance with double vertical board doors with strap hinges. There are two window openings (without windows) north of the entrance and a four light window south of the entrance. The south wall has a center window opening, with another one on the west. The north wall has no openings. The one room interior has exposed 2” X 4” framing. The floor is partially composed of wood planks and partially dirt. There are several sets of wood shelves lining the walls, as well as multiple brand burns in the wood above the original forge area at the northwest corner. This building was at the headquarters when James Settele purchased the property in 1934; it appears to have been constructed by Harold J. Arthur in the 1920 25 period.
Log Garage, Resource 14 (1920s, Photographs 4 and 19). This one story, rectangular (16’ 6” X 18’), front gabled roof log building (called the garage by the Setteles, but never used as such) has overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails and corrugated metal roofing. The Setteles stored concentrated livestock feed like cottonseed cake, rolled oats, bulk and block salt, and the salt additive bone meal in the building. The walls are composed of hewn logs that are squared on two sides, with saddle notched corners. Some of the logs retain bark, and there is concrete chinking between the logs. The north wall has double, central, vertical board doors with metal hinges, and the gable face has coursed square wood shingles. There is a large window framed with milled boards on the east wall, and the south wall has a central pedestrian door framed by boards and vertical boards on the gable face. At the west end of the building, the logs have collapsed. The interior has a wood plank floor. This building was at the headquarters when James Settele purchased the property in 1934; it appears to have been constructed by Harold J. Arthur in the 1920 25 period.
Meat/Cold Storage House, Resource 15 (late 1940s, Photograph 20). Sheep, cattle, pigs, and chickens were raised on the ranch, and wild animals such as deer, ducks, and rabbits were hunted on the site. The animals were butchered, and the meat was cooled and stored in the insulated meat house before being used in meals on the ranch. The meat/cold storage house, which was built a year after the cook’s house, is a one story, rectangular (10’ 4” X 16’), side gable roof frame building with wood shingle roofing and overhanging eaves with exposed rafters. The walls have 6” tongue and groove horizontal wood boards with center grooves and 1” X 4” corner boards. The foundation is concrete. The insulated walls are about 10” thick. The east wall has a center entrance with slightly inset door and a board surround with jamb with angled corners. There are no windows. The interior has a concrete floor and boards 7’ off the floor with hooks for hanging meat at each end. A tall electrical pole stands adjacent to the building on the south. There was no electricity on the ranch until the 1940s.
OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 8 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Well Shed, Resource 16 (1960) . This well shed, lying about 200’ southwest of the guest house, is the only one dating to the historic period. The shed roof frame building with board and batten siding was constructed by the Setteles and son in law Karl Anderson in 1960. The interior contains a water pump and electrical equipment.
NON RANCHING RESOURCES
Oil Derrick, Resource 17 (1904, Photograph 21). The South Park Oil, Gas, and Coal Company drilled for oil with this derrick during 1904 05. The derrick was located in the west half of the northwest quarter of section 17 on the San Marcos Oil Placer, one of fourteen oil placer claims sold to the company by Harold Chalmers, Charles H. Wadley, F. Galloway, and others. This location, about 1.6 miles north northeast of the ranch headquarters, was then public land but was used for grazing livestock by ranch operators. The drilling effort encountered numerous problems and the project was abandoned in 1905. The resource consists of a ten foot diameter wood bullwheel that was originally held upright on a metal axle between two heavy timbers. The metal parts are stamped “National Supply Co., Toledo, O.” Other extant derrick components include metal cable, two projecting metal well casings, and numerous heavy timbers, some of which appear to be hollowed out. The derrick appears to have been a “walking beam” derrick used in cable drilling (See Figure 2). Carole Settele Anderson recalls that the bullwheel was still upright and capable of being turned by hand as late as 1960. 3
While unrelated to ranching activities, the derrick is evaluated as a contributing resource within the district because it “independently meets the National Register criteria.” The derrick is individually eligible under Criterion A for its association with early twentieth century oil exploration technology, practices, and equipment in Park County. 4
Description of Noncontributing Resources Within the District
The following eight resources (32 percent of the district’s total) were evaluated as noncontributing because they were built or experienced substantial alterations after the period of significance for the ranch. Six of these resources are relatively small sheds.
Guest House, Resource 18 (Post-1971, Photograph 22). The one story guest house has a side gable roof intersected on the north by a projecting gabled roof entrance bay. The house has a concrete and concrete block foundation, lap siding, and a wood shingle roof. The projecting entrance on the north has a door with nine light window and there is a tripartite picture window east of the entrance and a large sliding window west of the entrance. The building is noncontributing because it was built after the period of significance.
3 The land on which the derrick is located was patented in the 1920s and was used for grazing before it formally became part of the ranch. A. Beeby Thompson, Oil Field Exploration and Development , 2 nd ed., vol. II (London: The Technical Press, 1950), 625, 627, and 631. 4 National Park Service, Guidelines for Completing National Register of Historic Places Forms: Part A, How to Complete the National Register Registration Form , revised ed. (Washington: National Park Service, 1997), 16. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 9 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Small Garage/Shed, Resource 19 (Post-1970, Photograph 20, in the background at right). This small one story hipped roof building has a concrete block foundation, lap siding, and a wood shingle roof. There is an overhead paneled garage door on the north and four light windows on the east and west walls. The garage/shed is noncontributing because it was built after the period of significance.
Scale Pit/Scale House, Resource 20 (1920-25 and post-1970, Photograph 23). The original scale house, which dated to the 1920 25 period, was removed after 1970. The current scale house is a rectangular (10’ X 6’) building with shed roof with asphalt composition roofing and overhanging eaves. The building has vertical panel siding. The west wall has a center door with single light. The south wall has two sliding windows, and there are small sliding windows on the east and north walls. The concrete scale pit to the south is approximately 10’ X 40’ and 6’ deep and dates to the 1920 25 period; the scale mechanism was removed after 1970. The scale pit/scale house is noncontributing because it was built or altered after the period of significance.
Shed, Resource 21 (Post-1970, Photograph 18). Adjacent to the southwest corner of the blacksmith shop is a 5’ X 6’ frame shed with vertical board siding, a shed roof with corrugated metal roofing, and a vertical board entrance with strap hinges and a wood handle on the east. A roughly square wood platform is in front of the entrance. The shed is noncontributing because it was not on the site during the period of significance.
Well Sheds, Resources 22, 23, 24, and 25 (Post-1970). The four well sheds are small rectangular (8’ X 6’ or smaller) frame buildings with wood siding and side gable or shed roofs with asphalt composition shingles. The interiors contain water pumps and electrical equipment, as well as water filtration systems. The well sheds are noncontributing because they were built after the period of significance. The well sheds are located as follows: near the northeast corner of the corral area (Resource 22); 1.3 miles northwest of the headquarters area between the Sigafus Ditch and the west boundary of the ranch (Resource 23); 0.4 miles west northwest of the headquarters area near the west boundary of the ranch, west of the Sigafus Ditch (Resource 24); and 0.7 miles south of the headquarters area on the east side of the Sigafus Ditch (Resource 25). OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 7 Page 10 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Resources within the District Res. Year Contributing Resource Resource Name Num. Built Status Type 1 Ranch Site 1872 Contributing Site 2 Denver, South Park, and 1879 Contributing Structure Pacific Railway Grade 3 Trout Creek Ditch 1862 Contributing Structure 4 Sigafus Ditch 1873 76 Contributing Structure 5 Barn 1920 25 Contributing Building 6 Loafing/Open Shed Early 1940s Contributing Building 7 Lambing Barn/Lambing Shed 1960 Contributing Building 8 Shearing Shed 1920 25 Contributing Building 9 North Loafing/Open Shed Mid to Late Contributing Building 1940s 10 Main Ranch house 1920 Contributing Building 11 Bunkhouse 1920 25 Contributing Building 12 Cook’s House Late 1940s Contributing Building 13 Blacksmith Shop 1920s Contributing Building 14 Log Garage 1920s Contributing Building 15 Meat/Cold Storage House Late 1940s Contributing Structure 16 Well Shed 1960 Contributing Structure 17 Oil Derrick 1904 Contributing Structure 18 Guest House Post 1970 Noncontributing Building 19 Small Garage/Shed Post 1970 Noncontributing Building 20 Scale Pit and Scale House 1920 25 and Noncontributing Structure Post 1970 21 Shed Post 1970 Noncontributing Structure 22 Well Shed Post 1970 Noncontributing Structure 23 Well Shed Post 1970 Noncontributing Structure 24 Well Shed Post 1970 Noncontributing Structure 25 Well Shed Post 1970 Noncontributing Structure
OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 11 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Statement of Significance
The Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch meets the registration requirements for listing in the National Register under the “Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado,” Multiple Property Documentation Form. The ranch is an example of the Ranches and Ranching Facilities property type, and the ranch contains buildings and structures representing a variety of agricultural functions and construction techniques. The ranch is significant under Criterion A for its association with the history of agriculture in South Park, embracing the growth and evolution of cattle, sheep, and hay ranching in South Park from the early 1870s to 1960. The present ranch grew from a number of smaller holdings that were patented along the Trout Creek drainage beginning in the 1870s. Edward P. Arthur, an English rancher and investor, settled in the area in 1874. He assembled land along the creek, using homestead and cash entry patents and the purchase of adjacent acreage from earlier settlers, including the Sigafus Ranch of James M. and Augusta Sigafus. Fellow Englishman Dr. David Chalmers bought a half interest in Arthur’s ranch in 1877, and the pair expanded the operation into the Trout Creek Ranch, the largest hay ranch in the proximity of Fairplay. Arthur became sole owner of the ranch following the death of Chalmers in 1885, and continued its operation until 1900, when he sold out to Charles H. Wadley. The Wadley Livestock Company, whose headquarters was several miles to the north, referred to this site as the Annex Ranch and used its lands for sheep grazing and hay growing. The successor Chalmers, Galloway, and Wadley Live Stock Company, one of Park County’s largest, in the early twentieth century, continued those uses. Charles Wadley’s death in 1910 led to the break up of the large ranching consortium, with this ranch being distributed to Ada C. and Herbert W. Wadley, his widow and son. A true headquarters at this site was not developed until the early 1920s, when Harold J. Arthur (Edward’s son) undertook a stock raising homestead patent and built the nucleus of the buildings present today. The Wadleys acquired Harold Arthur’s operation in about 1930, before losing the ranch to the bank two years later. James L. Settele acquired the property in 1934 and, with his wife Helen and daughter Carole, raised sheep, cattle, and hay here until 1970. Settele, one of the county’s largest sheep raisers, also played a prominent role in water conservancy and livestock organizations and served as a county commissioner and school board member.
The property is also significant under Criterion C for its architecture, which reflects the frame and log construction and variety of building types representative of South Park ranch complexes. The headquarters buildings typify the functional, unadorned construction techniques using readily available materials found in twentieth century ranch buildings in the region. Common building types necessary for a relatively isolated ranch’s successful operation are present within the headquarters, including those for animal care, residential, and agricultural support purposes. Included within the 2,112 acre nominated site are substantial open pasturelands, historic irrigation ditches, and a railroad grade, which were essential to the ranch’s cattle, sheep, and hay raising activities. The period of significance for the property extends from 1872 (the year lands within the ranch boundary began to be patented) to 1960 (the year the last major ranch building was constructed).
One resource on the ranch, the remains of a 1904 05 wood oil derrick, is individually eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion A in the area of industry. The derrick, erected by the South OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 12 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Park Oil, Gas, and Coal Company, was associated with efforts to explore and tap the petroleum potential of South Park and reflects early twentieth century oil drilling technology, practices, and equipment employed in a high mountain valley, as well as the role local boosterism played in efforts to finance such projects. The period of significance for the oil derrick is 1904 05, reflecting the years the derrick was erected and operated at the site.
Early Development in the Trout Creek Valley
George H. Hill, U.S. Deputy Surveyor, examined and platted the township containing the land included in this ranch (Township 10 South, Range 76 West, 6 th Principal Meridian) in the fall of 1868. Hill judged that the only timber of any account was in the northwest corner, where pine and aspen were found, with the rest of the land in the township “principally valuable as grazing land for cattle. The only man made feature the surveyor mentioned in the township was a wagon road along the west bank of Trout Creek. Hill did not note any buildings or agricultural pursuits, although the Trout Creek Claim Club was active in the drainage in the 1860s.5
Water diversion was an early activity that impacted the area and made other development possible. The Trout Creek Ditch, with an 1862 priority date, was the first water structure in this section of the valley. The ditch (Priority Number 2), originally dug by area pioneer Adolphe Guiraud, carried water from Trout Creek. In 1873, the Sigafus Ditch tapped water from the Middle Fork of the South Platte on the west side of Red Hill, and, through clever use of sidehilling, transported it over a gap in the hill to the Trout Creek drainage, eventually spilling into that stream some 2.5 miles north of its diversion point on the Middle Fork. The ditch received two enlargements, in 1875 and 1876. The original ditch had Priority Number 19. 6
The construction of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railway (DSP&P) through the Trout Creek valley in 1879 provided early ranchers with a means of shipping hay and livestock and receiving supplies. The alignment was selected in April 1879, and tracklaying through this section was completed in the fall. A railroad flag stop known as Burrows (or Burrow’s) Spur was located at the site of the current headquarters of this ranch, consisting of a short (195 foot) three car siding track. Burrows Spur was 100.1 miles from Denver. This segment of track was part of the DSP&P’s mainline, linking Como to the north and Garo to the south. 7
5 The contract for the work was executed in August 1868 and work began in October. George H. Hill, Surveyor Field Notes, Township 10 South, Range 76 West, 6 th Principal Meridian, Park County, Colorado, 1868 and Original Survey Plat, Township 10 South, Range 76 West, 6 th Principal Meridian, Park County, Colorado, 1868, in the files of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Lakewood, Colorado. 6 Morris S. Burk vs. Adolph Guireau [sic] , et al , District Court, Civil Action No. 4053, proceeding to quiet title, 2 April 1976 (includes information on the ranch’s water rights); Park County District Court, Water Case Number 341, Statement of Claim by Edward P. Arthur, 13 March 1889, Claim Settlement Volume, Fairplay, Colorado. 7 M.C. Poor, Denver, South Park and Pacific , memorial ed. (Denver: Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, 1976), 424; Gordon S. Chappell, et al, The South Park Line: A Concise History , Colorado Rail Annual No. 12 (Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1974), 37 and 40. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 13 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Early Homesteading and Ranching Activities: Arthur, Sigafus, and Chalmers
Edward Pellew Arthur homesteaded, purchased, and consolidated lands that became a considerable part of the Annex Ranch. He was one of a large group of Englishmen who invested in Colorado cattle ranches during the 1870s, encouraged by promising reports of profitable livestock raising. Unlike many of the British gentlemen who became cowboys, Arthur arrived in the United States with extensive experience. Arthur was born in the vicinity of Liverpool (West Derby, Lancashire), England, on 12 January 1839. After attending school there, he “engaged in agriculture” on the Isle of Man, where his presence was recorded in an 1861 census. Arthur then immigrated to Australia, where he superintended a sheep station for five years in Queensland. After that period, he returned to Great Britain and directed “improvements on an extensive estate in northern Scotland.” In 1868, he married Sarah Morris, who was also from the Liverpool area. The 1871 Scottish census showed E.P. and Sarah Arthur residing in Ross and Cromarty County in the northern part of the country. In time, the couple became parents of seven sons and three daughters: Edward P. Jr., Hamilton, Thomas, William, Reginald, Pellew, Harold, Mary, Catherine, and Elizabeth. In 1872, the Arthurs moved to the United States, arriving in Colorado and settling on a ranch west of Denver on Beaver Creek. 8
In 1874, Arthur acquired land along Trout Creek in Park County and “devoted himself to stock raising and the making of hay.” Using homestead and cash entry patents and direct purchase from other settlers, Arthur expanded his ranch, which included significant portions of the nominated property. One of the operations Arthur consolidated was the Sigafus Ranch, homesteaded by James M. and Augusta A.C. Sigafus, whose earliest land patent dated to 1872 (See Figure 1). The Sigafus acreage extended for several miles along Trout Creek, including parts of this ranch and the area to the south that came to be known as Arthur’s. After leaving Park County, Civil War veteran James Sigafus made and lost a fortune in Leadville mining, becoming an owner of the famous Robert E. Lee Mine and others. In 1882, the Fairplay Flume listed him as one of the “Bonanza Men that Park County has Furnished.”9
In 1877, a Liverpool neighbor and distant relative of Arthur’s, Dr. David Chalmers, visited South Park and purchased an interest in Arthur’s ranch. 10 Chalmers was born in England about 1810 and studied medicine at Glasgow University, Scotland. The Liverpool Courier reported that Chalmers was
8 William N. Byers, Encyclopedia of Biography of Colorado (Chicago: Century Publishing and Engraving Co., 1901), 332 33; Portrait and Biographical Record of the State of Colorado (Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co., 1899), 215; Census of England, 1861; Census of Scotland, 1871. 9 The Sigafuses moved to California in the 1890s, and there James headed the Good Hope Mining Company. In 1899, the New York Times reported a bundle of bonds and mortgages, owned by James Sigafus and valued at nearly $500,000, had been discovered in a Chicago alley, apparently being left in that location following a robbery. In 1910, James Sigafus died at a California mining camp as a result of intense heat. Byers, Encyclopedia of Biography of Colorado , 332; Fairplay Flume , 20 March 1879, 3; 5 February 1880, 1; 8 April 1880, 3; 9 March 1882, 1; 15 March 1888, 4; 15 April 1904, 2; 5 August 1910, 1; US Census, 1870 and 1900; James M. Sigafus, Civil War Pension Card, accessed at Ancestry.com; “Great Robbery Indicated,” New York Times , 4 March 1899. 10 Arthur and Chalmers also established the smaller Platte Ranch, located west of Red Hill, which included land acquired by Cash Entry patent awarded Arthur in April 1880. In 1882, the Flume speculated that the ranch would produce 100 tons of hay. Arthur operated the ranch with Harold Chalmers until 1884, when he sold his half interest in the more than 2,200 acres of “good hay land” along the Platte to another young Englishman, John Rayner, who partnered with Chalmers. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
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“extremely popular with his patients and all who knew him intimately, having with a somewhat brusque manner a most kind heart and genial humour.” During 1851 66, he served as a surgeon at the Northern Hospital, and later became an honorary consulting surgeon to that institution. He retired about 1877, and subsequently traveled to the United States. Chalmers and Arthur worked out a mutually beneficial agreement to acquire land and undertake ranching operations in South Park. Dr. Chalmers then left Arthur with his power of attorney and returned to England. In 1879, Chalmers’s son Harold moved to the United States, and Edward Arthur proceeded to instruct him in livestock raising and the operation of a ranch. As Harold’s daughter, Belle Chalmers Wadley, recalled, the family “didn’t seem to know what to do with” him, so they sent him to Colorado: “Father really loved ranch life, the live stock not farming, he never liked to plow or seed—nor did he. He came out to Trout Creek as a young man under Edward Arthur and learned the ranching business.” 11
The ranch soon became known as the Arthur and Chalmers Ranch, and by the 1880s it was called the Trout Creek Ranch. In 1879 and 1880, the Fairplay Flume printed a notice posted by Arthur warning people not to trespass or shoot on the land he and David Chalmers owned. During the early days and extending into the mid twentieth century, unfenced land in the vicinity of homesteaded and purchased acreage was utilized freely by ranchers. In 1880, a Denver reporter indicated that the ranch of Arthur and Chalmers would yield as much as two thousand tons of hay. During the 1879 85 period, Arthur continued adding to his holdings through acquiring cash entry homestead patents to adjacent acreage.12
In August 1881, the Fairplay Flume reported Edward Arthur was completing a large hay barn on the Arthur and Chalmers Ranch near the line of the Denver & South Park Railroad. 13 Arthur had granted the line a right of way through the ranch in 1879. Hay being cut on the ranch in 1881 was estimated at four hundred tons, and the property was described as “the nearest extensive hay ranch to Fairplay.” The newspaper noted, “ our people are naturally proud of the success that has attended Mr. Arthur’s indefatigable labors.” In 1882 the Flume noted that the Trout Creek Ranch of Arthur and Chalmers was “notable for fertility and heavy hay production.” In the same year, Arthur began to diversify his pursuits when he entered into a partnership with C.G. Hathaway and started a bank in Alma. 14
In declining health, David Chalmers gave his son, Harold, power of attorney to transact his affairs in Park County in January 1883. In August of the same year, Arthur and Chalmers began dividing their holdings, exchanging certain lands in the Trout Creek Valley (with Arthur receiving half interest in
11 Fairplay Flume , 7 September 1882, 4 and 10 April 1884; T.H. and R.L. Simmons, “Platte Ranch,” Colorado Historical Society Architectural Inventory Form, 5PA2014, March 2002; David Chalmers, Power of Attorney to E.P. Arthur, 23 June 1879, Park County Clerk Records, book 11, page 445; Liverpool Courier , 25 August 1885, 4; Portrait and Biographical Record , 1314 1315; Belle Chalmers Wadley, “The Life Story of Belle Ellen Chalmers Wadley,” 16, Transcript in Park County Local History Archive, Fairplay, Colorado (hereafter cited as Wadley, “Life Story”). 12 The Fairplay Flume asserted that Denver newspaper’s report on the potential hay yield was exaggerated. National Archives, Record Group 49, Department of Interior, General Land Office, Fairplay Land Office, Cash Entry No. 422, Patented 1 April 1880; Fairplay Flume , 4 November 1880, 3. 13 This barn was not located on property being nominated. It was a few miles to the south. 14 Fairplay Flume , 4 August 1881, 3 and 18 May 1882; Byers, Encyclopedia of Biography of Colorado , 332 33. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
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Chalmers’s property that would become part of the nominated ranch). In 1884, Arthur purchased other land within the boundaries of the current ranch from another pioneer family, the Guirauds, who had come to South Park from France. In October 1884, the Flume indicated Arthur and Chalmers had cut between five and six hundred tons of hay at the Trout Creek Ranch. Edward P. Arthur continued to diversify his activities, serving as town treasurer of Alma in 1885. The 1885 Colorado Census recorded the Arthur family in Park County, with Edward identifying himself as a “banker and ranchman.” 15
In March 1885, Harold Chalmers married Belle Dudley, a daughter of local pioneer ranchers, and the newspaper indicated the newlyweds would live at the Trout Creek Ranch. 16 Dr. David Chalmers passed away in England at the age of seventy five, on 21 August 1885, leaving a wife, Ellen, and three children. His last will and testament recorded that Chalmers had “purchased considerable real estate in Colorado and agreed with Edward Pellew Arthur of Trout Creek Hay Ranche, Park County, Colorado, to work such estate with him to our mutual benefit.” The document indicated that Dr. Chalmers bequeathed all interest in his Colorado estate to his son, Harold. 17
In 1887, Edward Arthur turned from banking to investing in placer mining in Park County. In June of that year, Arthur and Harold Chalmers executed an agreement that gave Arthur the other half interest in the land acquired from Dr. Chalmers in 1883. This gave Arthur full possession of the lands in question. In 1889, his focus returned fully to ranching in South Park, and, in the adjudication of water rights that year, Arthur and members of the Chalmers family were successful claimants to rights in the Trout Creek and Sigafus ditches. The court decision noted that Trout Creek Ditch was used for irrigation “by means of dams in Trout Creek, and by small ditches, the water is caused to overflow and irrigate the lands thereunder.” Park County records document Arthur’s frequent purchases of cattle, horses, real estate, and mining claims during the late 1880s and early 1890s. In 1892, he served as secretary of the South Park Ranchman’s Protective Association. 18
In 1893, a year of great financial distress in Colorado due to the Silver Panic, Arthur took a job as assistant cashier at the Bi Metallic Bank of Cripple Creek. He continued in that position for three years and was promoted to cashier in 1896. Arthur also began managing the bank in the absence of its president, David Moffat. His wife, Sarah, died in 1898, and the following year Edward Arthur married Louisa C.W. Barrett, who was also from England. The couple became parents of a daughter,
15 Fairplay Flume , 2 October 1884, 4 and 31 December 1885,1; Edward P. Arthur, Warranty Deed to David Chalmers, 4 August 1883, book 17, page 350; David Chalmers, Warranty Deed to E.P. Arthur, 4 August 1883, book 17, pages 349 and 391; Marie Guiraud, et al, Warranty Deed to E.P. Arthur, 20 November 1884, book 21, page 353; Colorado State Census, Park County, 1 June 1885. 16 In 1893, following the death of his first wife, Harold Chalmers married Maud Wadley, the sister of Charles Wadley of the Red Hill Ranch. The Flume indicated the newlyweds would live at the Trout Creek Ranch. 17 Fairplay Flume , 26 March 1885, 4 and 12 October 1893, 4; Liverpool Courier , 25 August 1885, 4; David Chalmers Last Will and Testament, book 58, page 527, filed 2 January 1900. 18 Harold Chalmers, Executor’s Deed to Edward P. Arthur, 20 June 1887, book 31, page 484; Park County Clerk and Recorder Records, E.P. Arthur real estate transactions, 1880s; Byers, Encyclopedia of Biography of Colorado , 332 33; Fairplay Flume , 5 May 1892, 1; State of Colorado, District Court, Fourth Judicial District, Water Rights Adjudication, Case Number CA0341, Fairplay, Park County, Colorado, 11 October 1889. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
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Grace. Although described as “being of a reserved and retiring disposition,” Arthur was elected mayor of Cripple Creek in 1899. The following year, he disposed of his Trout Creek property. Beginning in the early twentieth century, Edward Arthur served as clerk of the district court of Fremont County for twenty years. In 1923, he and his wife moved to southern California, where he died in March 1928. 19
The Ranch as a Component of Large Livestock Operations
Reflecting his focus on a new life in the booming mining town of Cripple Creek, in January 1900, Edward P. Arthur sold his land along Trout Creek to neighboring rancher Charles H. Wadley for $9,000. Included in this transaction was approximately 52 percent of the Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch’s present day extent of 2,112 acres; areas along the western edge, the northeast corner, and a tract in the southern part were not included. Wadley immediately transferred the property to the Wadley Livestock Company, which had acquired the remainder of the original Trout Creek Ranch (or Arthur’s) to the south in 1899. The Wadley firm was established in February 1896, with Mary T., George F., and Charles H. Wadley as incorporators. The authorized capital stock was $50,000 with five hundred shares of $100 each. The principal purposes of the business included “raising sheep, cattle, horses and other livestock” and “raising and dealing in hay, grain and all farm produce.” Charles H. Wadley, born in 1863 in Brookline, Massachusetts, came to Park County in 1881 and engaged in ranching. He married Ada DuBois (1869 1950) of Fairplay in 1885; she had come to Park County from Jackson, Michigan, as a child. Wadley served as president of the local school board and held leadership positions in various livestock organizations. 20
Under the Wadleys, the northern part of the Trout Creek Ranch became known as the Annex Ranch, apparently because it was an adjunct of their main operation, located eight miles north at Red Hill. The name “Annex Ranch” appeared in local newspapers in the 1910s, but a 1911 Park County road map and railroad timetables continued to list the site as Burrows Spur into the early 1920s. Belle Chalmers Wadley noted that this ranch “joined on the south border of the Red Hill Ranch. It made a good layout, a long strip through the [Trout Creek] valley, not too wide, but taking in all of the pasture. They cut a lot of hay at the Annex.” She recalled that the installation of a telephone link to the Annex was “a great blessing” for Charles Wadley, permitting him to communicate with “the lower ranch” (referring to the Annex) without undertaking a lengthy horseback ride. 21
Oil Exploration on the Ranch
The early twentieth century saw a small boom in oil exploration in parts of Park County that led to the erection of an oil derrick in the northeast corner of the ranch. Prominent leaders in the effort were members of the Wadley, Galloway, and Chalmers ranching families. The South Park Oil, Gas, and
19 Byers, Encyclopedia of Biography of Colorado , 332 33; Fairplay Flume , 23 February 1923, 1; Colorado Springs Gazette- Telegraph , 20 March 1928, 12. 20 Wadley Livestock Company, certificate of incorporation, filed 5 February 1896, Park County Clerk and Recorder, general records, book 53, page 332; Fairplay Flume , 7 January 1910, 1. 21 Park County, “Road Map: Park County, Colorado,” April 1911; Wadley, “Life Story,” 23 24. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 17 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Coal Company (SPOG&C) organized under the laws of Wyoming, in April 1902. The company’s authorized capital stock was $100,000 divided into one million shares at ten cents per share. Among the initial seven trustees of the firm were South Park ranchers Charles H. Wadley and Frederick Galloway, a ranching partner of Harold Chalmers. Galloway was the company’s first president, and Adam Heberer, a Fairplay merchant, served as the firm’s secretary. In April 1903, Harold Chalmers became a member of the board of directors. By early 1904, the Fairplay Flume was ardently boosting the exploration effort, pointing to the benefits that would flow to the area if oil were found and reminding readers that SPOG&C was “strictly a home organization. Each and every one of the directors is an old resident of the county.” 22
Professor Arthur Lakes of the Colorado School of Mines reportedly recommended a site on Trout Creek “near the fossil beds,” as a promising location to drill for oil. In February 1904, Charles H. Wadley, Frederick Galloway, and others sold fourteen oil placer claims to SPOG&C. The selected drilling site was on the San Marcos oil placer in the northern portion of today’s ranch in the northwest quarter of Section 17. 23
Many local residents invested in the project, and sufficient funds were raised by the summer of 1904 to begin operations. The railroad delivered five carloads of machinery and two carloads of casings. The company contracted with Charles McVey to drill a 3,500 foot well. The derrick (Resource 17) was in place and drilling began in late August. Figure 2 shows the type of drilling rig that may have been employed on the ranch. At the outset, it was anticipated that the well would be completed in about thirty five days, but the project quickly ran into problems. There were difficulties obtaining water needed in the drilling process. At first, water was hauled in, although later a well was completed at the site. Frequent stops to put in casing slowed drilling progress to just 25’ a day. 24
By early December the company exhausted the $7,500 it had raised for construction, with the well only reaching 1,000’ in depth. The Fairplay Flume made a last ditch effort to keep the project alive, imploring residents to reach into their wallets and “hoist up a liberal wad of coin.” The appeal was targeted toward local ranchers, who were “the ones who would benefit directly should oil, gas or coal be struck,” an apparent allusion to royalties that would be payable to landowners. Drilling at the well was halted by mid December due to a lack of operating funds. 25
The company persevered in selling additional stock, however, and, by late March 1905, more than $3,000 had been subscribed. Work resumed, and in early June workers attempted to put in casing to straighten the original hole. In late July an under rimmer tool was obtained to address the problem, but it did not work as expected, eventually falling to the bottom of the hole when its cable broke. Reporting these developments, the Fairplay Flume observed,
22 South Park Oil, Gas, and Coal Company, certificate of incorporation, executed 31 March 1902, filed 14 April 1902, in the files of the Park County Clerk and Recorder, Fairplay, Colorado; Fairplay Flume , 4 March 1904, 2. 23 Park County Assessor ownership maps show an “oil derrick” or “oil well” in the location of the derrick remains in section 17; it was the only derrick shown on the maps in Township 10 South, Range 76 West. Fairplay Flume , 22 January 1904, 3. 24 Fairplay Flume , 5 August 1904, 3; 12 August 1904, 3; 26 August 1904, 3; and 30 September 1904, 3. 25 Fairplay Flume , 2 December 1904, 2 and 16 December 1904, 2. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 18 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
The uninterrupted streak of hard luck that has marked the career of the South Park Oil Gas and Coal Company from the time of its incorporation to the present day is again in evidence. . . . Thousands of dollars will be necessary to put the company on its feet and complete a new hole. Much money was spent on the old well and a feeling of disappointment is bound to prevail over the culmination. 26
Drilling did not resume at the site, although interest in the petroleum potential of the Trout Creek Hartsel area revived sporadically in later years.
The Chalmers, Galloway, and Wadley Live Stock Company
By the early 1900s, several of Park County’s large livestock operations began consolidating their operations into larger business entities. Common interests, geographic proximity, and interlocking marriages prompted the mergers. In November 1906, the Chalmers and Galloway Live Stock Company and the Wadley Live Stock Company reached an agreement to combine their sheep raising operations. In April 1908, the outfits formally combined as the Chalmers, Galloway, and Wadley Live Stock Company. The earlier corporations were dissolved, and a new company was created with authorized capital stock of $200,000 divided into 2,000 shares of $100 per share. The stated purpose of the business was to conduct “a general ranch and live stock business.” The initial seven directors of the firm included members of three families: Charles H. Wadley (president); Mary Galloway (treasurer); Ada C. Wadley; Maude W. Chalmers; Herbert W. Wadley; Harold Chalmers (vice president); and William H. Wadley (secretary). The Fairplay Flume reported that “the deal includes nearly 9,000 acres of land, about 8,000 sheep, 700 cattle, and establishes the largest land and live stock concern in Park county.” The Annex Ranch was one of the holdings the Wadleys brought to the merged enterprise, and the land continued to be used for livestock grazing and hay ranching. 27
Belle Chalmers Wadley reported she and her husband, Herbert Wadley, stayed at the Annex Ranch for a few months after their marriage in July 1910. She recalled that the headquarters area was not very developed at that time: “Just a small house, big barn, and corrals.” Herbert, who had left school to assist his father who was in declining health, had “batched” briefly at the Annex before his marriage. With developed ranching facilities at Red Hill Ranch to the north and Trout Creek Ranch to the south, the Wadleys apparently saw little need to create extensive facilities at the Annex. 28
Operational Changes in the Mid-1910s and 1920s
In early 1910, the Fairplay Flume described the Chalmers, Galloway, and Wadley Live Stock Company as “the second largest company of its kind in Park county and one of the largest land and livestock companies in Colorado.” However, the organization proved to be relatively short lived.
26 Fairplay Flume , 4 August 1905, 1. 27 Chalmers, Galloway, and Wadley Live Stock Company, certificate of incorporation, 27 April 1908, in the files of the Park County Clerk and Recorder, Fairplay, Colorado; Fairplay Flume , 16 November 1906, 1 and 8 May 1908, 4. 28 Belle Chalmers Wadley, “Life Story,” 24; Fairplay Flume , 8 July 1910. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 19 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Charles Wadley’s untimely death in January 1910 at age forty six and declining conditions in the local industry may have precipitated changes in the operations and holdings of the umbrella company.
In February 1914, the business undertook a restructuring and division of assets, with some acreage going to the new Chalmers Galloway Live Stock Company and other lands turned over to members of the Wadley family. Belle Chalmers Wadley provided her view of the causes underlying the breakup of the company:
Water for irrigating was getting more and more hard to get as Denver was demanding more and they had bought up so many water rights, so hay was short. The stock range had been very overstocked and the native grasses were getting destroyed and poison weeds were everywhere, playing havoc with both sheep and cattle. Drought too, we were not getting the rain or the heavy winter snows that carried the water for summer use. The partnership of the Chalmers and Wadleys was dissolved. 29
Ranch lands along Trout Creek were transferred to widow Ada C. Wadley (a three quarters interest) and her son Herbert W. Wadley (a one quarter interest). 30
The Wadleys raised cattle, sheep, and hay on the Annex Ranch and on other land in the area until the early 1930s, but they lived at another property in Park County or in Denver. Resident managers were in charge of the day to day operation of the ranch, including Archie Longaker in the 1914 15 period. In February 1915, Longaker hosted a rabbit hunt in which the editor of the Fairplay Flume participated, reporting that “we got so many we are ashamed to tell the number as we would hate to have our record for truthfulness questioned.” In July 1915, Tom Arthur (a son of E.P. Arthur) took over management of the ranch. He and his family resided at the Annex through at least the end of 1916. A 1918 railroad right of way map described this location as “cultivated irrigated bottoms, [with] native wire grass hay,” and newspaper accounts also indicate that hay was baled at the Annex. The railroad siding, like the one at Arthur’s a short distance south, may have been used for the loading of baled hay onto railroad cars. 31
Chattel mortgages taken out by the Wadleys provide insights into their ranching operations in the late 1910s and early 1920s. A chattel mortgage gives a lender a lien or security interest in the specified property until the loan is satisfactorily repaid. The Wadleys pledged livestock and hay as security for loans. Chattel mortgages for such transactions were recorded once or twice a year from 1916 through 1924. A chattel mortgage recorded in November 1917, for example, listed 682 cattle and 600 tons of hay as collateral. A $25,500 loan of November 1920 was secured by a detailed list of
29 Belle Chalmers Wadley, “Life Story,” 38. 30 Fairplay Flume , 7 January 1910, 1; H.R. Wadley, “For[e]ward,” in Wadley, “Life Story.” 31 At the time of Charles Wadley’s death, he and his family were residing at the Trout Creek Ranch to the south and planned to continue living there. Fairplay Flume , 11 April 1902, 3; 7 January 1910, 1; 28 May 1915, 1; 23 July 1915, 1; 29 October 1915, 1, and 22 December 1916, 1; Colorado & Southern Railway Company, Time Table, South Park Division, No. 1, Effective June 5, 1922 (Denver: Smith Brooks Press, 1922); Colorado and Southern Railway Company, Colorado and Southern Railway Company, Right of Way and Track Map, Gunnison District (Denver: Office of Valuation Engineer, 30 June 1918), map 48. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 20 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) chattels: 80 head of one year old native heifers, 240 two to eight year old native cows, 164 native calves, 18 shorthorn bulls, and 300 tons of native hay in stack. 32
Development of the Ranch Headquarters
Harold J. Arthur played an important role in the development of the ranch headquarters in the 1920s. The son of Edward P. Arthur, Harold was born in Alma, Colorado, in 1884. The family moved to Cripple Creek in 1893, and Harold graduated from high school there. He engaged in mining in the Cripple Creek district for a number of years and then spent time in Park, Jefferson, and Fremont counties. Harold Arthur returned to Park County permanently in 1919. He married Marie Bruce of Cañon City in 1920, and the couple became parents of four children: Dorothy E.; Donald E.; Betty A.; and a son who died as an infant. In June 1920, Harold Arthur filed a Homestead Entry on 160 acres under the Stock Raising Homestead Act of 1916. The law permitted individuals to claim up to 640 acres of non irrigable land without merchantable timber that was “suitable only for grazing land and forage.” Arthur’s entry embraced lands in the western edge of the current ranch, including portions of Section 19 and the current headquarters area (See Figure 1).33
Arthur constructed several buildings that form the nucleus of today’s ranch headquarters. In his homestead proof testimony in August 1925, Arthur and his two witnesses listed eight buildings at the ranch that he had erected between 1920 and 1925: a five room frame house completed in December 1920 (today’s Resource 10); a frame barn with two additions for horses (Resource 5); a long frame stock shed (the Shearing Shed, Resource 8), a bunkhouse (Resource 11); a smaller frame stock shed and a frame granary no longer standing; and a scale house (presumably the original building over the current scale pit, Resource 20). Arthur estimated the value of these improvements at $2,775. Two additional resources were probably constructed by Arthur in the late 1920s after his proof testimony, including the blacksmith shop (Resource 13) and the log garage (Resource 14). The two buildings were present when James Settele acquired the ranch in 1934 and are shown in a 1938 aerial photograph. 34
Arthur’s operation continued to be known as Annex Ranch, identified by the railroad as “Burrows Spur.” Like his father, Arthur engaged in cattle and hay raising on his homestead. He had one horse, sixty head of cattle, and about eighteen acres in natural hay meadow that produced fifteen tons of hay annually. He also attempted to raise crops such as potatoes, oats and barley, and lettuce, but noted the difficulty of plowing due to the many rocks in the soil and complained that “prairie dogs are so numerous that they destroy my crops.” Arthur was connected with the Wadley Live Stock Company for several years, and may have served as the on site manager for the Wadley
32 Ada C. and Herbert W. Wadley to Charles M. Kirk, deed of trust, book 87, page 417, 25 November 1917; Ada C. and Herbert W. Wadley to Charles M. Kirk, deed of trust, book 91, page 481, 20 November 1920. 33 The buildings described by Arthur as being built in the early 1920s are clearly those present at the headquarters. It is unclear what happened to the two buildings Belle Chalmers Wadley reported in 1910. Capitol Publishing Company, Capitol’s Who’s Who for Colorado , 1941 43 (Denver: Capitol Publishing Company, 1941), 29; Fairplay Flume , 10 March 1939, 1; V. Wesler Johnson and Raleigh Barlowe, Land Problems and Policies (New York: Arno Press, 1979), 46. 34 Rancher Herbert W. Wadley and Michael I. O’Mailia, a lawyer, were Arthur’s homestead proof witnesses. There were some inconsistencies in the number and types of buildings listed by the three men. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 21 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) ranchlands. The proximity of the Wadley land to the east along Trout Creek may have encouraged cooperative undertakings. Arthur also had an agreement to rent water, if available, from the Wadleys from the Sigafus Ditch. 35
Hard Times for the Wadleys
The Wadleys continued to borrow to finance their ranching operations throughout 1920s, securing the loans with chattel mortgages on cattle, sheep, hay, and wool. More frequent mortgages were recorded during the second half of the decade, including three in 1925, six in 1926, and four in 1927. Sheep appeared in chattel mortgages, with 1,110 head pledged as security for a May 1926 loan and 1,070 for an October 1926 loan. In July 1927, the Wadleys took out a substantial $30,000 loan from the Denver Joint Stock Land Bank, pledging as collateral 4,680 acres of land with water rights that they owned along Trout Creek and in other areas. The interest rate was 6 percent, with payments of $1,050 due on 1 January and 1 July of ensuing years. 36
In about 1930, the Wadleys acquired the headquarters area of the Annex Ranch and its associated lands from Harold J. Arthur. This transaction was significant in consolidating a considerable portion of today’s ranch (about 57 percent) under one ownership. However, the move may have contributed to the financial overextension of the Wadleys that led to their loss of the enlarged property. When her father, Harold Chalmers, died in 1931, Belle Chalmers Wadley related that there was nothing left in his estate, observing that “Their [the Chalmers] ranch business was so in debt to the bank, as ours had been for quite a while.” Apparently unable to pay back their 1927 loan, the Wadleys lost their properties to the Denver Joint Stock Land Bank in June 1932. 37
The Settele Era, 1934-1970
James L. Settele (Set´ lē) of Laramie, Wyoming, acquired the Wadley ranch from the Denver Joint Stock Land Bank in April 1934. The property subsequently came to be known as the Settele Ranch. The sale encompassed land in three townships, including nearly 1,700 acres in Township 10 South, Range 76 West, but not embracing Arthur’s to the south. About 57 percent of the present day
35 Harold J. Arthur, final proof, testimony of claimant, homestead case file, serial number 030089, 21 August 1925; Fairplay Flume , 10 March 1939, 1; U.S. Forest Service, aerial photograph, BOV 03 22, 12 July 1938, in the files of the U.S. Forest Service, Lakewood, Colorado. 36 Wadley Ranch Company to Charles M. Kirk, deed of trust, book 98, page 576, 28 November 1926, deed of trust, book 101, page 117, 27 May 1926, and deed of trust, book 101, page 193, 26 October 1926; Ada C., Herbert W., and Belle C. Wadley to Public Trustee, deed of trust, Book 103, page 405, 21 July 1927, in the files of the Park County Clerk and Recorder, Fairplay, Colorado. 37 The Arthurs were still living at the Annex Ranch in 1926, but moved to a new residence by 1930. In the immediate aftermath of the loss of their ranch property, Herbert and Belle Wadley moved to Fairplay, where they operated “a run down, very second hand small hotel” that was “cold, drafty and dirty!” Fairplay Flume , 10 March 1939, 1; Ada C., Herbert W., and Belle C. Wadley, grantor, to Denver Joint Stock Land Bank, grantee, Warranty Deed, book 113, page 106, 8 June 1932; Wadley, “Life Story,” 48 and 50. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 22 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) acreage of the ranch and all of the ranch headquarters site in sections 19 and 20 were part of the purchase. 38
James Settele was born in Albany County, Wyoming, in 1902. His early years were unsettled, with both parents and a stepfather dying when he was still fairly young. He attended public schools in Laramie, and learned ranching with his stepbrother on the Kite Ranch near Wheatland. Settele attended the University of Wyoming for a year while working for Portland Cement and then secured a job with the Union Pacific Railroad as a brakeman. He quickly rose to the position of conductor, but saw that as a dead end job. Settele traveled to both coasts before learning of the availability of the Wadley’s Annex Ranch in Park County. According to Settele’s daughter, Carole Settele Anderson, her father had few monetary assets at the time, but convinced the representative of the bank that he could make a go of the ranch. 39
Settele’s early years on the ranch were not easy. According to his daughter, he arrived in Park County with his car, clothes, a .22 rifle, and a couple boxes of shells. He trailed in twenty five to thirty head of horses from the Kite Ranch in Wyoming (more than 230 miles) and bought older ewes, which were cheaper, to stock the ranch. Porcupines were a mainstay of his early ranch diet: he clubbed the slow moving animals to save bullets, later reminiscing that the young ones reminded him of pork, while the older ones tasted like pine sap. In 1935, he married Helen Abromski of Fort Morgan, whose family had emigrated to the United States from Poland. In 1936, the Setteles’ only child, Carole, was born.
Like the Wadleys, the Setteles raised both cattle and sheep on the ranch. Leased U.S. Bureau of Land Management and school lands supplemented purchased acreage. At its peak, the ranch had a 500 head cow calf operation and two bands of sheep, with 1,100 head in each band. The cattle were Herefords and crossbreeds, using polled Hereford bulls and, in later years, Charolais and shorthorn bulls. The Settles obtained two U.S. Forest Service grazing permits, and, during the summers, the sheep bands were taken up into the Mosquito Range north and south of Hoosier Pass. The Hispanic American herders tending the bands usually came from the Taos, New Mexico, area. The ranch also had milk cows, as well as pigs and chickens. Deer, ducks, and rabbits hunted on the ranch also went into the Settele larder. Helen Settele planted a large vegetable garden and canned extensively.
Most of the native hay, which included timothy, brome, and red top, was used as feed on the ranch, with cottonseed cake as a supplement. The property encompassed 1,100 acres of meadows which produced about 1,100 tons of hay in a typical year. Haying usually began in early August and took about six weeks to complete, requiring an additional twelve to sixteen hired hands for the task. The ranch had thirty to thirty five horses and mowers, rakes, and sweeps to process the hay. While some
38 Denver Joint Stock Land Bank, grantor, to James L. Settele, grantee, Special Warranty Deed, book 114, page 400, 17 April 1934, filed 4 June 1934. 39 Carole Settele Anderson, Riverton, Wyoming, Telephone Interview by Thomas H. Simmons, 31 October 2007; Thomas S. Chamblin, ed., Historical Encyclopedia of Colorado , vol. 1 (Denver: Colorado Historical Association, 1960), 616; Salida Mail , 21 November 1977, 5. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 23 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) of the hay was stored in the barn, most was stacked in large 20’ X 24’ X 20’ piles in the meadows using a beaverslide stacker. A normal year yielded about 112 stacks. 40
Carole Settele characterizes growing up on the ranch as a “pretty austere life.” The location was isolated, and the ranch was often snowed in. After World War II, the purchase of a surplus jeep and the installation of an eight party telephone line facilitated outside contact. Coal oil lamps were used for lighting, as electricity did not come to the ranch until after the war. Wood and coal were used for cooking. Water came directly from the Sigafus Ditch, transported by a pipe and hose to a cistern just north of the main ranch house; purification was achieved with a cheesecloth filter and charcoal. There was no running water in the ranch buildings until the mid 1950s.
The Settele holdings increased significantly in 1948, when the southern part of the original Trout Creek Ranch (then known as Arthur’s) was acquired from the Arthur family. After leaving the Annex Ranch, Harold Arthur had moved there and raised cattle and sheep. About 1935, he started the Arthur Dairy. Arthur served as Park County Brand Inspector and was active in the Agricultural Adjustment Act movement before his death in 1939. The 1948 purchase from Arthur’s widow and children brought approximately 75 percent of the ranch’s present day lands into Settele’s ownership. Only the northeastern corner and a strip near the northwestern corner remained in other ownership or in the public domain. Carole Settele Anderson recalls that her father grazed cattle beyond the formal property lines, including adjacent public lands and up in the northeastern corner. The operation was defined by the geography of the valley, with ranching activities extending from hilltop to hilltop. 41
Settele Construction in the Headquarters Area
The Setteles made improvements to the headquarters site, including the addition of six buildings between 1940 and 1960. The Colorado and Southern Railway discontinued operations in 1937, and the steel tracks were removed by the company the following year. James Settele salvaged the wood ties that were left in the grade and built snow fences north of the ranch buildings. In the early 1940s he constructed a loafing/open shed (Resource 6) attached to the east wall of the barn. Another loafing/open shed (Resource 9) north of the barn was erected in the mid to late 1940s. Three buildings were completed after the end of World War II in the late 1940s: the cook’s house (Resource 12); the meat/cold storage house (Resource 15); and a small house for hired man Tom Palmer. The latter dwelling was moved to the headquarters from a nearby ranch in 1947 and placed on a concrete foundation; it is no longer present. The original five room ranch house (Resource 10) was doubled in size in 1955 to increase and improve living space and provide rooms for guests. In 1960, the long, south facing lambing barn (Resource 7) with a semi monitor roof was built at the northwest corner of the headquarters. James Settele wanted the building to be something lighter and more spacious than the existing “dark old barns.” In the same year, a small well shed (Resource 16) was completed a
40 In 1953, a drought year, the meadows produced only eleven stacks. 41 Marie Arthur, et al, Warranty Deed to James L. and Helen Settele, book 139, page 332, 27 August 1948, in the files of the Park County Clerk and Recorder, Fairplay, Colorado; Fairplay Flume , 10 March 1939, 1; Carole Settele Anderson, interview and ranch visit, 9 November 2007. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 24 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS) short distance southwest of the headquarters. Karl Anderson, who married the Setteles’ daughter in 1958, helped with its construction. 42
Community and Civic Activities
Despite the enormous responsibilities attendant to operating the ranch, James Settele became a leader in a regional livestock organization and a water conservancy movement, as well as an active participant in civic affairs in Park County. Settele was president of the Central Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, and a member of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and the Wool Growers Association. He viewed preservation of water for irrigation as critical to the survival of the ranching economy. Wary of the water hunger of Denver and other Front Range cities, Settele played a major role in the creation of the Upper South Platte Water Conservancy District in 1955 and was its president for a number of years. He was a Park County Commissioner in the 1960s and also served as president of the local school board. Advancing in age and foreseeing the end of the style of ranching they practiced due to the sale of water rights and difficulty in finding workers, the Setteles sold the ranch in 1970. They retired to Poncha Springs, where James Settele died in 1977. The 1960 Historical Encyclopedia of Colorado had judged, “Mr. Settele has played an important role in the development of the stock raising industry of Park County and is considered one of its ablest exponents.” 43 Helen Settele, his partner in ranching and in life, moved to in Riverton, Wyoming, to be near her daughter and passed away in 1993.
Later Owners
In 1970, Morris S. Burk of Dade County, Florida, purchased the ranch from the Setteles. The Burk tenure of twenty nine years extended through several different ownership entities and transfers. During this period, the ranch’s boundary expanded and the owner built a guest house (Resource 18) and garage/shed (Resource 19), as well as four small well sheds (Resources 22 through 25) to supply water to ranch buildings and the Red Hill Estates subdivision to the west. The layout and materials of the corral area changed, the area directly west of the main house was regraded, and a small ditch south of southern row of buildings was removed. The southern portion of the ranch (previously known as Trout Creek or Arthur’s) was split off and sold. It was renamed Running Elk Ranch, whereupon this ranch became known as the Trout Creek Ranch. After Burk’s death, Judith Burk sold the ranch to Rodney L. and Nancy J. Miley of Gray Eagle, Minnesota, in 1999. The current owners, Charles and Margo Harding of Norman, Oklahoma, acquired the property in March 2007. The Hardings plan to preserve the historic buildings and setting, and the ranch grazing lands are leased to a working cattle operation.
42 Carole Settele Anderson, interview and ranch visit, 9 November 2007; Park County Assessor, real property appraisal cards, Fairplay, Colorado; Gordon S. Chappell, et al, The South Park Line: A Concise History , Colorado Rail Annual No. 12 (Golden, Colorado: Colorado Railroad Museum, 1974), 194. 43 Salida Mail , 21 November 1977, 5; Thomas S. Chamblin, ed., Historical Encyclopedia of Colorado , v. 1 (Denver: Colorado Historical Association, 1960), 616. ywf2xoF2IHPREHHIVD2x2porm
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the2ptent2dteF22sn2some2instnes2individuls2my2hve2sold2their2lnd22efore2tully2reeiving22ptentF22ih2squre2is2RH2resF OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 26 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Figure 2. A wood walking beam drilling rig similar to this one operated on the ranch in the 1904 05 period in an unsuccessful effort to find oil. The large wood wheel to the left is thought to correspond to the wheel still at the site. SOURCE: Beeby Thompson, Oil-Field Exploration and Development , 631.
Figure 3. James L. Settele acquired the ranch in 1934 after the previous owners lost the property to the bank. SOURCE: Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, undated. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 27 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Figure 4. Most of the hay grown on the ranch was stored in large stacks in the meadows. SOURCE: Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, undated. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 28 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Figure 5. These images provide two views of a plunger used with a beaverslide stacker, which was used to create large 20’ X 24’ X 20’ stacks in the ranch's meadows. Rather than pulling, the team pushed the device which moved the hay onto the stack. The plunger was 38 feet long and made from the trunk of a lodgepole pine. SOURCE: Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, undated. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 29 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Figure 6. This view south down the Trout Creek Valley from near the main ranchhouse shows the blacksmith shop at the right. SOURCE: Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, undated.
Figure 7. In addition to sheep, the Setteles raised Hereford cattle. This 1950s view shows a herd of cattle, several large haystacks in the background, and Red Hill in the distance. SOURCE: Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, Stuckenschneider photograph. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 30 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Figure 8. This view toward Red Hill shows cows and calves in the corral area west of the main ranchhouse, with the barn and the shearing shed in the background. Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, undated.
Figure 9. Barbara Bauer, a niece of the Setteles, on horseback at the ranch headquarters. The scale house (replaced with a newer building) is at the right and a sheep wagon is to the left. Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, c. 1940. OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 8 Page 31 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Figure 10. The 1920 house at the ranch was doubled in size after a 1955 remodeling by the Setteles. Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, October 1969.
Figure 11. James and Helen Settele are shown riding Spider and Weasel at the ranch with Red Hill in the background. The Setteles owned the ranch from 1934 to 1970. Carole Settele Anderson photographic collection, 1940s.
OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 9 Page 32 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Bibliography
Anderson, Carole Settele, Riverton, Wyoming (daughter of James L. and Helen Settele). Interviewed by Thomas H. and R. Laurie Simmons at Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch. 9 November 2007.
______. “Information About the Settele Ranch.” Manuscript. 8 November 2007.
______. Telephone Interview by Thomas H. Simmons. 31 October 2007.
Anderson, Karl. Riverton, Wyoming. Interviewed by Thomas H. and R. Laurie Simmons at Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch. 9 November 2007.
Beeby Thompson, A. Oil-Field Exploration and Development . 2 nd ed., vol. II. London: The Technical Press Ltd., 1950.
Beedon, John. Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch. Survey form and draft National Register nomination for the ranch.
______. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Interviewed by Thomas H. and R. Laurie Simmons at Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch. 28 September 2007.
Byers, William N. Encyclopedia of Biography of Colorado . Chicago: Century Publishing and Engraving Co., 1901.
Chamblin, Thomas, ed. Historical Encyclopedia of Colorado . Denver: Colorado Historical Association, 1960.
Chisolm, Marie. Fairplay, Colorado. Telephone Interview by R. Laurie Simmons. 11 October 2007.
Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph . 20 March 1928.
State of Colorado, District Court, Fourth Judicial District. Water Rights Adjudication, Case Number CA0341. Fairplay, Park County, Colorado. 11 October 1889.
Davis, Jerry. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Telephone interviews by Thomas H. and R. Laurie Simmons. October and November 2007.
Fairplay Flume . 1879 1939.
Kintz, Louise. Fairplay, Colorado. Telephone Interview by R. Laurie Simmons. 12 October 2007.
Liverpool Courier . 25 August 1885. OMB No. 1024-0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 9 Page 33 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
New York Times. 4 March 1899.
Park County Assessor. Real Property Files. Fairplay, Colorado.
Park County Clerk and Recorder. Grantee/Grantor Books, Incorporation Records, and Chattel Mortgages/Deeds of Trust.
Park County District Court, Water Case Number 341, Statement of Claim by Edward P. Arthur, 13 March 1889, Claim Settlement Volume, Fairplay, Colorado.
Portrait and Biographical Record, Colorado. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1899.
Salida Mail. 1977.
Scamehorn, H. Lee. Personal Communication regarding oil derrick. 30 September 2007.
Simmons, Thomas H. and R. Laurie. Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado. National Register of Historic Resources Multiple Property Documentation Form. 27 August 1999.
______. Platte Ranch Architectural Inventory Form. 5PA2014. March 2002.
U.S. Census. Census of Population. Manuscript returns, Park County, Colorado. 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930.
U.S. Department of Interior. General Land Office. Homestead Case File No. 030089, Harold J. Arthur, 12 November 1925. Record Group 49. National Archives.
______. Survey Plat. Township 10 South, Range 76 West, 6th Principal Meridian. Park County, Colorado. 1868. In the files of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office, Lakewood, Colorado.
______. Surveyor’s Notes. Township 10 South, Range 76 West, 6th Principal Meridian. Park County, Colorado. 1868. In the files of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office, Lakewood, Colorado.
U.S. Forest Service. Aerial Photographs of Park County. 1938 and 1956. On file at U.S. Forest Service, Lakewood, Colorado.
Wadley, Belle Chalmers. “The Life Story of Belle Ellen Chalmers Wadley.” Transcribed and with a foreword by H.R. Wadley. December 1986. Transcript in Park County Local History Archive, Fairplay, Colorado.
OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 10 Page 34 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Geographic Information
Verbal Boundary Description
The nominated area consists of approximately 2,112 acres of land, as indicated on the included to scale sketch map, and is wholly within the bounding polygon 1234 drawn on the original USGS map included with this nomination. The ranch is located approximately six miles southeast of Fairplay, Park County, Colorado. The detailed legal description follows:
A portion of Sections 17,18, 19, 20, 29, 30 and 32, Township 10 South, Range 76 West of the 6th P.M., Park County, Colorado, more particularly described as follows: Beginning at the 1/4 corner common to said Sections 17 and 18; thence South 89°49'40” East, along the North line of the West 1/2 of the Southwest 1/4 of said Section 17, 1330.70 feet to the Northeast corner of said W1/2 SW1/4; thence South 00°57'03" West, along the East line of said W1/2 SW1/4, 2632.54 feet to the Southeast corner of said W1/2 SW1/4; thence South 00°54'00" along the East line of the NW1/4 of the NW1/4 of said Section 20, 1377.40 feet to the Southeast comer of said NW1/4 NW1/4; thence North 89°53'40" East, along the North line of the of the SE1/4 of the NW1/4 of said Section 20, 1341.63 feet to the Northeast corner of said SE1/4 NW1/4; thence South 00°22'09" East, along the East line of said SE1/4 NW1/4, 1366.12 feet to the Southeast corner of said SE1/4 NW1/4; thence South 00°16’40" East, along the East line of the NE1/4 of the SW1/4 of said Section 20, 1347.90 feet to the Southeast corner of said NE1/4 SW1/4; thence South 00°16'40" East, along the East line of the SE1/4 of the SW1/4, 1347.81 feet to the 1/4 corner common to said Sections 20 and 29; thence North 89°21’13" East, along the North line of the NW1/4 of the NE1/4 of said Section 29, 1325.50 feet to the Northeast corner of said NW1/4 NE1/4; thence South 00°18'32" West, along the East line of said NW1/4 NE1/4, 1348.58 feet to the Southeast corner of said NW1/4 NE1/4; thence North 89°17'57" East, along the North line of the SE1/4 of the NE1/4 of said Section 29, 1326.01 feet to the Northeast corner of said SE1/4 NE1/4; thence South 00°18'22" West, along the East line of said SE1/4 NE1/4 1347.49 feet to the Southeast corner of said SE1/4 NE1/4; thence South 00°17'47" West, along the East line of the NE1/4 of the SE1/4 of said Section 29, 1347.46 feet to the Southeast corner of said NE1/4 SE1/4, said point being on the Northerly line of a 60 foot wide access Easement recorded in Book 442 page 666; thence Southwesterly along the Northwesterly line of said access Easement the following 3 courses and distances: 1) South 63°22’10" West, 400.41 feet; 2) South 37°18'20" West, 1864.63 feet; 3) South 11°42'02" West, 2892.89 feet; thence South 66°41’57" West 294.93 feet, to a point on the Easterly line of Red Hill Forest, a recorded Subdivision; thence Northerly, along said Easterly line of Red Hill Forest the following 8 courses and distances; 1) North 29°39'53" West, 645.15 feet; 2) North 26°24'48" West, 1364.58 feet; 3) North 26°24'02" West, 1605.17 feet; 4) North 26°24'48 West, 2978.70 feet to the West 1/4 corner of said Section 29; 5) North 25°21'27" West, 3032.54 feet; 6) North 21°44'17" West, 2948.33 feet; 7) North 23°46'32" West, 3029.16 feet; 8) North OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. 10 Page 35 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
20°52'22" West, 2828.78 feet to a point on the North line of the Southwest 1/4 of said Section 18; thence South 88°58’49" East, along the North line of said SW1/4, 1955.79 feet to the Northeast corner of said SW1/4; thence South 88°55'11" East, along the North line of the Southeast 1/4 of said Section 18, 2673.96 feet, to the point of beginning, and
A portion of Sections 7, 17, and 18, Township 10 South, Range 76 West of the 6th P.M., Park County, Colorado, more particularly described as follows: Tracts 4, 5, and 6, Reinecker Ranch.
Boundary Justification
The nominated area includes the headquarters area of the ranch and adjacent hay meadows and grazing lands that were associated with the ranch and used for ranching activities during the period of significance.
OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. PHOTOS Page 36 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Common Photographic Label Information:
Resource Name: Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch Location: Fairplay vicinity, Park County, Colorado Digital Images Info: CD ROM with TIFF images on file with NPS in Washington DC
Information Different for Each View:
Photograph Number, Description of View, Photographer and Date, and Camera Direction
Photograph Camera Description of View, Photographer, and Date Number Direction
1 Ranch headquarters from about a half mile to the N south with the Sigafus Ditch (Resource 4) in the foreground and Little Baldy Mountain in the distance. Photographer: John Beedon. Date: July 2007 2 Ranch headquarters from near the south end of the N ranch with the Sigafus Ditch (Resource 4) in the foreground and with Reinecker Ridge (right), Little Baldy Mountain (center), and Mount Silverheels (left) in the distance. Photographer: John Beedon. Date: July 2007 3 Ranch headquarters with Trout Creek in the NW foreground and Mount Silverheels in the distance to the right. Photographer: John Beedon. Date: July 2007 4 Eastern portion of the headquarters area, showing NNW (right to left), Blacksmith Shop (Resource 13) and Shed (Resource 21), Main Ranchhouse (Resource 10), Bunkhouse (Resource 11), and Garage (Resource 14). Photographer: John Beedon. Date: April 2007 5 Western portion of the headquarters area, showing WNW (left to right), Barn (Resource 5), Shearing Shed (Resource 8), Loafing/Open Shed (Resource 6), North Open Shed (Resource 9), Lambing Barn (Resource 7), Scale House (Resource 20), and corrals. Photographer: John Beedon. Date: March 2007 OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. PHOTOS Page 37 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Photograph Camera Description of View, Photographer, and Date Number Direction 6 Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railway grade NNW (Resource 2) from near the south end of the ranch with the ranch headquarters and Mount Silverheels in the distance. Photographer: John Beedon. Date: July 2007 7 Trout Creek Ditch (Resource 3) from road east of the SE ranch headquarters with Reinecker Ridge to the left. Photographer: Thomas H. Simmons. Date: September 2007 8 Sigafus Ditch (Resource 4) wood diversion gate about NNE 0.75 miles northwest of the ranch headquarters, with Little Baldy (left) and Reinecker Ridge (right) in the distance. Photographer: Thomas H. Simmons. Date: September 2007 9 Barn (Resource 5), with the western end of the WNW Shearing Shed (Resource 8) at the right. Photographer: John Beedon. Date: March 2007 10 Barn (Resource 5) and Loafing/Open Shed (Resource SW 6) (lower building at right). Photographer: John Beedon. Date: March 2007 11 Loafing/Open Shed (Resource 6). Photographer: WNW John Beedon. Date: March July 2007 12 Lambing Barn (Resource 7) with Reinecker Ridge in NE the background. Photographer: John Beedon. Date: March 2007 13 Shearing Shed (Resource 8). Photographer: John NE Beedon. Date: March 2007 14 North Open/Loafing Shed (Resource 9). WNW Photographer: John Beedon. Date: March 2007 15 Main Ranchhouse (Resource 10) (front). ENE Photographer: John Beedon. Date: March 2007 16 Bunkhouse (Resource 11). Photographer: John SSW Beedon. Date: March July 2007 17 Cook’s House (Resource 12). Photographer: John NW Beedon. Date: March 2007 OMB No. 1024 0018, NPS Form United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Trout Creek/Annex/Settele Ranch, Park County, Colorado Section No. PHOTOS Page 38 (Historic Ranching Resources of South Park, Colorado MPS)
Photograph Camera Description of View, Photographer, and Date Number Direction 18 Blacksmith Shop (Resource 13) with Shed (Resource NW 21) at left. Photographer: John Beedon. Date: March 2007 19 Garage (Resource 14). Photographer: John Beedon. S Date: March 2007 20 Meat/Cold Storage House (Resource 15), with the SSW Shed/Garage (Resource 19) and the Guest House (Resource 18) at right. Photographer: Thomas H. Simmons. Date: September 2007 21 Oil Derrick (Resource 17), about 1.6 miles northeast NW of the ranch headquarters with Red Hill and Mount Silverheels in the background. Photographer: R. Laurie Simmons. Date: September 2007 22 Guest House (Resource 18). Photographer: John S Beedon. Date: March 2007 23 Scale House and Scale Pit (Resource 20). NE Photographer: Thomas H. Simmons. Date: September 2007 ywf2xoF2IHPREHHIVD2x2porm
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